The Mudan River runs through the centre of Mudanjiang city, and the riverfront park along its banks is the city's main public green space and the place locals gravitate to in the evening. The park is nothing remarkable by scenic standards, but it gives an accurate portrait of how a mid-sized northeastern Chinese city lives: older couples ballroom dancing on the paving, groups playing cards, vendors selling grilled corn and skewers, and an easy flow of people using the river simply as a backdrop for being outdoors.
In winter the river freezes solid and the park takes on a different character — ice skaters appear on the cleared sections and the bare trees and frozen water give the city an almost Scandinavian quality. In summer the willows along the bank soften everything and the river is genuinely pleasant for an evening walk. It is not a destination, but it is the kind of place that tells you more about a city than any official sight.